Odds & Ends

Dateline: New York—Syracuse resident Derrick M. Pride probably should have just stayed in bed last Monday. His very bad day started at around 7:20 p.m. when he was shot and wounded in the left shoulder while standing near the corner of East Fayette and Bruce Streets. Pride, 39, ran across the street, got into his car and, accompanied by a witness to the shooting, began driving toward Upstate University Hospital. Unfortunately, police believe Pride was intoxicated when he got behind the wheel of his car. On his way to the hospital, he turned the wrong way down a one-way street and crashed head-on into another vehicle. Pride was taken by ambulance from the crash scene to the hospital, where E.R. workers began treating his various wounds. Athough things were starting to look up at that point, they took another turn for the worse. While helping Pride out of his bloodied clothing, medical workers found four grams of crack cocaine in his “groin area.” Pride eventually received a felony and misdemeanor charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance for the drugs. He also got busted for driving while intoxicated. Neither Pride nor his witness were able to identify the shooter.

Dateline: New York—Parents, pet owners and residents in Buffalo became concerned after snow in their neighborhood suddenly turned a bright shade of pink. Turns out the colorful precipitation came courtesy of a nearby building demolition, dismantling an old industrial plant that manufactured food coloring. Local reporters were told a pipe containing about five pounds of residual red dye No. 40 ruptured during demolition at the former Buffalo Color plant. John Yensan of Ontario Specialty Contracting said that some “talcumlike powder” was carried by the wind across homes, cars and streets. Shirley Parker, a longtime resident who lives just a few blocks from the old plant, said this wasn’t the first time she’s seen brightly colored snow. “We used to have green, yellow and purple snow in the winter when we had Buffalo Color running,” she was quoted as saying in the Buffalo News. State health and environmental officials collected samples of the pink snow but do not believe the it represents any health problem. A water truck was called in to clean it up.

Dateline: Pennsylvania—According to the Sharon Herald, a western Pennsylvania man has been fined $50 for using his finger to write “dirty” words on a dirty car. Charles J. Vranich, 33, of South Pymatuning Township pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct last week for etching the words “I suck” in the dirt on a Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission truck in September. The truck belonged to Fish Commission Officer Jeffrey Giardina, who made Vranich take an alcohol breath test during a boating incident several weeks before the dirty truck incident. Even though he passed the test, Vranich apparently held a grudge against Giardina and took it out on the officer’s truck when the two men found themselves at the same gas station. “It was something he shouldn’t have done,” Vranich’s father told the Herald.

Dateline: California—A brand new strip club in Riverside County was vandalized before it even opened. The culprit: an overly horny goat. The 150-pound goat smashed two large glass doors at Lynx Gentlemen’s Club in Coachella last weekend. The entire incident was caught on tape. “I would never believe it if I didn’t see it myself,” said owner Hank Piecura. “It must have been mesmerized by its reflection in the door, so it rammed it.” The goat first appeared at the strip club early Friday morning, but Piecura chased it off. Saturday morning, the owner found the safety glass on the doors smashed. Authorities initially responded to a vandalism call but discovered the goat was responsible after reviewing the surveillance footage. The animal stared at his reflection in the doors for several hours before rearing up on his hind legs and butting the glass until it shattered. The goat remains at large.

Dateline: Arizona—Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies have arrested a woman who allegedly tried to trade her 2-year-old daughter for a gun. Police went to the Mesa home of 33-year-old Tanya Nareau last Tuesday after receiving a tip. While at Nareau’s home, a family friend who had the child confirmed to deputies that Nareau gave the girl to him in exchange for a gun. Nareau told authorities she felt the friend would do a better job raising her child. Also, Nareau said she was unable to buy her own gun because she is a convicted felon. Nareau was booked into Maricopa County Jail, charged with unlawful sale of a child and solicitation to possess a weapon by a prohibited person.